A Business Venture
by shadyfoxhound
Summary: An assassin's creed AU where the Shay and Haytham just so happened to run into a new agreement with a young businessman and the man who founded his company. Rated M for themes with occasional language. More characters will likely appear.
1. Chapter 1

Hey there, I had to re-upload this because I noticed I misspelled some important things. It's the first time I've written anything so here goes.

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The sky was grey, the autumn weather was falling into winter, and I made my way to work through the busy streets of New York. I didn't particularly like being called in but Haytham wouldn't do that unless it was important. You see, our law firm recently got a call from Davenport Freight and Shipping. This would be normal if not for the fact that the company had flipped from a dying business to a prospering economic hub in the course of about six months.

As I got into the cab I told the driver to take me to the Knights Law Firm building (in all honesty we handled a lot of legal affairs really but the name would be too long if we tried to fit all of them in). It promised to be an interesting day from what Haytham told me. If I remembered correctly then the owner or manager of Davenport Shipping would be coming in today to discuss some trade agreements between it and businesses across state lines.

As the cab rolled up to the door I paid, tipped the driver, and made sure I looked as much the part of a specialty case lawyer as I was. Seeing how it could be a big deal for us I took care to make sure my suit was in good order. Some old co-workers said that the red shirt and black suit look seemed like my type of color scheme and I had to admit it was nicer than what I wore in my younger days.

A glimpse at my reflection in the glass as I entered reminded me how much had changed since I started working here. I started taking up Haytham's style of pulling back my hair and shaving became a must. I have to say I dressed better but I did so for my job and for the fact I just made the money to buy the clothes. I had changed in appearance so much I doubt that many people would connect me with who I was.

Occasionally thinking like that would make me wonder if it had changed me as a person as well. I wondered what person I would have been if I had stayed with Achilles.

"Shay, good to see you're early." Haytham stood there leaning against the wall behind him. Haytham also had an odd ability to control the room even when he had his eyes half closed. Although he could have waited in his office all day the man often chose to traverse the working areas rather than sit back. This made the others go about their work considerably faster and mad the interns walk on eggshells.

"Mornin', are we going to be expecting them soon?" I took the coffee that an intern handed me.

"The owner is delayed so we will have to wait to see him. However, he said that his right hand man will be here with the papers for us to look at before he arrives."

"Is the right hand also the manager?"

"Indeed. He's said to be a young man that every boy should aspire to, if you believe the suppliers with Homestead Inc.

"Ah," I've heard a lot of success stories of young men and women out of college that lucked into good places. Haytham could have been one if his father didn't go missing all those years ago. Soon the silence became awkward, as we had nothing else to talk about until those papers were examined. "So… you said Ziio called you?"

He looked about ready to punch me but didn't. "Yes," he went back to drinking his tea as he spoke, "She's going to be going around Europe for her job and needs someone to look after her son."

"Her son? Not yours?" The famous Kenway glare was starting to build up so maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"That's what I asked her. She wouldn't answer me but asked if I would watch him anyways. She had planned to leave him with his godfather but knew that she might be gone for a year at least." He seemed to let the usual emotional shield down as he said that. It wasn't very often he even let that side show for a second but it seemed to happen on occasions we spoke of Ziio or Edward's disappearance. Now he had to take care of a boy who may or may not be his son.

I was about to say something else when Haytham's secretary, Charles, came in. "Sir, you have an urgent call."

"Of course, Shay, I'll take care of that. If Davenport himself or his man shows up, you handle it until I get there."

"Sure thing."

He left and about thirty minutes later I was bored as could be waiting outside the empty conference room. I decided to go get more coffee but as I went down to the lobby a curious thing was waiting there.

A punk kid seemed to be lying on the lobby couch as if he was sleeping at home. He even put his worn down shoes up on the arm of the seat while his head was propped up on the other end. I couldn't quite see his face behind the messy hair, beanie, and grey hood. "Hey, what are you doing here, lad?" He wouldn't be the first minor to come to us but he was the first arrogant enough to act like he wasn't in the center of one of the most influential businesses in the country.

"I have papers to take care of." He didn't even turn his head to talk to me.

"Obviously. Who are you waiting on?"

He shrugged, "I don't know." This kid was starting to bother me. I'd have to take care of him so we didn't have clients seeing or talking to this punk. "Do you need something from me or are you wasting your company time?"

Arrogant punk…. "Ahem, if you don't know who you're looking for then maybe I can deal with you quickly."

He sat up, straitened up his worn but expensive looking jacket (surprisingly the hood must have been on another thing under it) and looked expectantly. He certainly had something familiar about his face and the stare he gave. "Lead the way."

"Sure, by the way, name's Shay Patrick Cormac."

"Connor."

"What's your full name?"

"It's just Connor."

"Why? Are you changing your last name while you're here? Are you just somebody's nameless bastard?" He froze mid stride. Shit. The boy stayed quiet for a second. His voice dropped to an even softer tone.

"Yeah, I guess so." I definitely hit a nerve with him. "But it's just Connor because it's the name I use for business." At least he recovered quickly from that comment.

"Ah, I get it. Here's the conference room." We can use it until anyone from Davenport shows up and then I wouldn't miss them. I took the seat at the end closest to the door and he sat beside me. "So what can I do for you?"

He took off his hood and pushed the hair back enough to see his face. "I have some papers for you to look at." He pulled a manila envelope from his jacket and placed it between us. I pulled it out and began to notice these were business documents.

"Huh, I thought you were a kid running from home with some legal troubles. I didn't think you were an entrepreneur." The records were impressive, the kid had made $45,000 in revenue this past month. As I kept reading I couldn't help but get distracted by the way he slumped his shoulders and looked over his hands as his arms were propped on the table. Everything he did had a weird sense of familiarity The way he shifted positions had a pattern that looked like I should have known him. His lips were familiar as well but in not in the same way as the rest of him. They had a shine and fullness to them that I had seen somewhere but I wasn't sure where. Hell, even his messy hair had a sort of familiar look.

Before I knew it I had stopped reading and was just staring at him. I didn't know I was scanning his face until suddenly I realized I was looking him in the eyes. He was looking back at me as well.

"uhm… is something the matter Mr. Cormac?"

"…"

"Mr. Cormac?" He tried to flick his eyes around the room to break the contact but I couldn't stop for some reason. My mind was too focused on how that guarded look that gave way and unwittingly revealed how there was something innocent and confused in place of the punk I had seen.

I didn't even know I had cusped his face in my hand. I held his face close to mine and he began to look at me as well. "umm, Mr. Cormack, I…"

"Call me Shay for now on" I could barely manage the words with how much I was focusing on him.

"Connor, why do I get the feel-"

" **What the hell are you doing!?** "

Back to the real world, I looked and saw Haytham and Achilles Davenport glaring at me.

"Well, we were looking over some papers when-

"When what? Before you tried to kiss my boy?" Achilles was ready to stab me with his cane.

"WHAT?" I looked back at myself. I saw that Connor also had reached for something in his jacket but more importantly, somehow I had moved from my seat to looming over Connor and I was still holding his chin with my thumb near his lower lip. So… I could see the situation implied… that.

"Connor you knew I wasn't doing something like that right?" He returned to the hard look in his eyes but released whatever he was holding in his jacket and took a deep breath.

"Let's just get on with business."

For the life of me, I never thought I would be the one making bad impressions.


	2. Chapter 2

Shay's POV

It was awkward to look Achilles in the eyes after that. Although we had our differences and disagreements in the past they had faded to the point where I could have civil conversations with him on occasion. However, that didn't mean we were on stable terms. That scene would have jeopardized any chance of talking but Connor had changed the subject and whispered something to him that seemed to dissipate the initial want to stab me.

Haytham got us back onto the intended plan and we began to sift through the papers in the envelope. We worked on the company's previous statements and agreements with various businesses they used to work with and current clients and through it all Connor spoke very little unless Achilles asked him to detail things. It was clear this was a learning experience for the boy even though he already seemed quite capable to do all the tasks required for a company manager. We managed to get through almost everything in the time we had. It was up to me to work on the last few details before tomorrow but otherwise we were done.

Connor had glanced a few times at Haytham while we were talking and now he seemed intent on saying something. He must have been upset that my boss didn't seem to reprimand me for what I did but I'm sure I'll get an earful once these two were gone. I was going through my head on how to explain myself when Achilles called me. "We need to have a talk, Shay."

The old man made me feel like a teen that got caught.

I followed him as he stiffly limped to the front parking lot. "You know, it's amazing he didn't try to attack you immediately. I've seen him almost break Paul's hand for constantly trying to touch him." (From what I remembered, Paul was always too touchy-feely and I could see myself doing the same.) "I don't know what possessed you to do what you did Shay but I need you to be clear with Connor about your intentions."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Connor would normally never let someone touch him. Neither his mother nor I have seen anyone less than family and select friends get as close to him and certainly no man or woman has ever… tempted him as you did."

"Whoa, hold your horses! I did no such thing. We were looking at papers, he caught my eye, I looked at him, he looked back, you walked in, we all got to work, that's all that and nothing "tempting" happened." Where in the nine levels of Hell did he get that idea? I thought the old man had gone senile but instead he raised a brow at me.

"Really? The look you gave him was the same one you gave Hope when you two thought it was going to last forever." He saw me flinch at the thought of it. Hope and I had known each other for years as friends before we got together and broke up on ideological differences. "You gave him the same look you gave her in the beginning. I want you to avoid making this end the same way."

"Achilles, look-"

"No, you listen here!"

I don't know what triggered it but something had struck a nerve. "Hope went through a frenzy of turmoil as you two fought each other while trying to keep it together. That boy doesn't deserve to share that fate." Achilles lowered his voice to keep his composure, "No, I don't believe you love the boy. I'd be surprised if you cared, but take heed, he has never been disarmed by a look in someone's eyes. He's stared down men with the intent to seriously hurt him without flinching. Whatever you did, it has no doubt sparked his curious side to find you again and figure out what it is that happened. Because he's inexperienced and emotionally sheltered he's naïve enough to mistake confusion as "love at first sight". Do not do anything that might give the fool the wrong idea, I doubt he would withstand the heartbreak."

I couldn't believe what he was saying. I wanted to tell him off but instead I heard, "Achilles, we should go." Connor was walking up to us, hooded with his face hidden, and Haytham was following.

"Mr. Davenport," well, Haytham was still unaffected by anything, "a word as we go to your car?" Achilles nodded and they left us standing in front of the building.

"Mr. Cor- I mean, Shay?" dear God, not this again, "Why did you stare at me earlier?"

I considered Achilles's statement about Connor's probable actions and misinterpretations. At the moment the truth seemed the least likely to cause him to question me further. "You looked strangely familiar."

"Oh." That seemed to throw him for a loop so I turned to go back in. I would have left him there if I hadn't remembered a small detail I noticed at the beginning of this ordeal.

"By the way, what were you reaching for in your jacket?"

"You mean when you were on top of me?" Damn it child, choose better words.

"Yeah, then..."

Connor took a deep breath before he moved to stand in front of me with his back to the building. He looked uncomfortable to say the least. He almost whispered, "Don't mention any of this to Achilles," and started to unzip.

"Wait, wait, wait! Not the time nor place to show me that!" I grabbed his hands but it was too late for me to realize that I stopped one hand just below the navel and the other hand was on the bottom edge of the coat, right over his... "family jewels".

Luckily all the dummy did was look confused and say, "you wanted to know what was in my jacket, wouldn't I need to open it to show you?" Fuck, the old man had me paranoid about things now. "Would you prefer doing it in private?"

"You know, just tell me, odds are I'll know what you mean." I let go of him and he placed his hands back into his pockets. This guy couldn't be that oblivious to what he was saying could he?

"It's protection."

"Pardon?"

"Um, i-it's a bit embarrassing but there's always been a lot of night activity in my life, especially when I go out or sneak out of the house so I usually have some protection on hand in case."

He brought condoms… here… he was reaching for condoms in the room with me over him… "D-do you know you wouldn't need that here?"

"It's a habit that I benefit from so I'm not going to change soon. Besides, with how you were over me, I thought I would have needed it in a few seconds." The bastard smirked and walked away.

Innocent and inexperienced my ass.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey there, this chapter's pretty long to make up for the last one. I decided that Shay needed a break so I wondered what Connor was up to. I'm not sure how many times things will change perspective but I thought it could show what else went on that day a little better. On with the story!

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Connor's POV of that day.

It was awkward say the least. Mr. Cor- I mean, Shay was holding me by the chin and tilted my head up to face him. I was used to being grabbed but not in the way he did. His hold was firm but gentle and his thumb rested just a bit away from my lips. At this distance I had nothing else to look at but the features in front of me. His jaw was hard angles and his scar drew attention to his eyes. The look in them wasn't like anything I had seen before. It made my heart beat faster until it was pounding and I thought I was falling into a trance. It wasn't fear but something just as daunting building up in me as I looked in his eyes. Out of habit I instinctively reached into my coat's interior but that took all the thinking I could manage.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

I looked over to see Achilles. Shay said something and there was an exchange of words as I dropped the item in my hand to turn back to him. "Let's get on with business." I was embarrassed to let Achilles see me being helpless but I walked to him and tried to be discrete. "I'm sorry about that, I let things get out of hand because I was… uhm…" I couldn't tell him that I was more scared of how I reacted than what Shay did. How could I tell the man that trained men in fighting that I almost couldn't react at all? There was no way to hide the fact my face was getting red just thinking about explaining it to the old man.

He seemed to understand me without having to explain it. "Go on child, you don't have to speak of it but for now we still have work to do."

For the rest of the meeting I only spoke when I needed to. I was trying to hide my embarrassment from Achilles and the men across from me. Shay looked uncomfortable ever so often but I couldn't read him well enough to know what he was thinking. Haytham Kenway however, seemed completely unaffected by the situation. He talked calmly and had a dangerous air about him. It was the same feeling that mother gave off when she was serious and I wondered if I would develop it as well. While I knew a few things about him from when my mother was dating him I didn't know much of what happened after she ended the relationship. I wondered if he even knew I existed until now.

After what felt like an eternity of working we were out of time and Shay would finish up the last few documents. We stood to leave and Achilles asked to speak with Shay in private. Only Haytham and I were left in the conference room. Although I wanted to know all about him I couldn't think of a place to start when I had barely talked to him until this meeting.

"Your name is Connor, correct?" I missed my chance to initiate the conversation.

"Yes, what does it matter to you?"

He looked at me for a split second before broke out a smirk. "You must be Ziio's son." He was quicker than I thought he would be. Instead of bombarding me with questions he extended his hand, "Haytham Kenway, at your service."

"It's nice to finally meet you." We shook hands but it was weird. I didn't doubt this was the same man my mother talked about but he wasn't what I expected. He looked like age was creeping up on him. He was in his forties with the black and grey in his hair. Some lines were around his face but they couldn't be seen without someone paying attention to them. However, he stood strait like royalty while talking, he still had the broad chest and shoulders my mother described, the accent was correct, and he had the blue eyes my mother fell for years ago. I had to conclude this was my father. "How did you know about me?"

"Your mother called me a few days ago. I hear you will be living with me starting tomorrow while Ziio has business in Europe. Apparently she doesn't want to burden your godfather and I turned out to be the best option." He looked like he was musing over a question but there was a small enough shake of the head to dismiss it.

"Is something wrong?" It got his attention again and he shook his head.

"She said she went through all your relatives before she called me. I tried to ask her if you were related to me but she refused to answer. Tell me, do you know who I am?"

"I know a few things about you but it's all vague. You're British, you dated my mother, you worked for this company, Achilles knew you, " I guess he wanted me to say something specific but I didn't know what. "I was hoping to learn more about you actually."

"Oh? Like what?"

"I'm not sure," that wasn't the answer he was looking for, "but there is one urgent question I have to ask."

"What is it?"

"Um… Is it," I hope I wasn't about to make a mistake, "appropriate to call you father?"

He gave a tiny laugh like he was right. I assume he figured out who I was while we were talking. "I would say so, you are my son after all." He smiled a bit and something softened in his expression, he was less intimidating then. "If you don't mind answering, would I be correct in assuming Achilles is your Godfather?"

"Yeah, I've known him since I was thirteen and mother would leave me with him when she had work that took her out of the city."

"And he made you a trade expert in charge of his company as well?" I nodded. Everyone seemed to be surprised whenever it came up. I didn't think it would be all that surprising since I did get my experience from the man who started the company.

As we walked towards the entrance we talked about what I'd need to bring and what would be at the house when I got there. I gave him my number and father said, "We'll have to keep talking later. There's a lot I need to catch up on."

I saw the old man talking with Shay about something in a low voice. "Achilles, we should go."

Father and Achilles walked to the car and I had a minute to talk with Shay. In our conversation I don't think he gave me the whole truth on why he did what he did but I wasn't going to be bothered (it's not like I could do anything to stop what someone thought) especially when he meant no harm to me. As we talked I admit, I thought he was strange but he was perceptive. I guess he knew what I had in my coat could have been dangerous but I tried to assure him it was just for safety reasons. I could see his shock and it looked so out of place on him that I cracked a smile as I left. It's understandable to be surprised by what I said but when you live how I do, you learn to conceal guns pretty well.

I got in the car on the passenger side while Achilles drove. It was going to be about thirty minutes before we got home through the countryside and the rain had started to drizzle again. The memories of today were giving way to the absentminded blur of green, tan, and brown outside the window. I was fading in and out of thought when I heard him talking to me.

"Connor, I know you can hear me."

"Oh, sorry. I was staring out the window."

"I know. What did you think of today?" I shrugged. He knew I did what I had to do without fail. "What did you think of your father?" Ah, so that's what he was getting at.

"He's alright. I didn't get to talk to him much. I guess the bad parts are that he's a bit too formal and he seems like an emotional recluse." The old man started to chuckle,

"Like father like son."

"I'm not either of those though!"

"Then why do you say 'mother' and 'father' instead of mom and dad like other people? You also don't let anyone know too much about what you feel either but hopefully you'll grow out of it."

"I had to learn it form some one! Face it old man, I got it from you," I had to have won with that comment.

"You and your sass boy"

"I am not sassy."

Even though we started to butt heads every so often we always had some that were nonsense just for fun. We bickered back and forth with jokes like that until he pulled into the driveway. The brick manor stood solemn against the grey sky but it felt more lively than when I first looked at it. I helped Achilles rebuild it from what it was back then. When it was all done I spent years visiting and months staying in this old house with him.

I didn't realize it until I walked though the door that I might not be doing that again for a year. Although Achilles said I was more than free to visit I didn't know how far away my father lived from here or if my classes at college would keep me too busy. I would still work for him by faxing the papers and doing everything online but I would miss having the old man in the room with me.

"Hey, are you going to be living here alone again?" I knew he lived alone after his wife and his real son died. He was bitter and did nothing but stew in his worst memories. I couldn't let that come back, even if I could get to know my father better I didn't want him to relapse into that.

"Not if our little community has anything to do with it," I tried to be reassured when he said that but I still felt guilty and he picked up on it quickly. The old man turned and gave me a kind smile, "Look boy, I will be just fine living here. Besides, if I were you I'd be concerned about how your father will deal with your sneaking out and sarcastic responses."

I rolled my eyes, I always got in trouble for those things but his casual remarks were usually signs that he wasn't worried about things. "I'll deal with those things when I have to." He smiled again and walked into the study.

"I have some things to go through, in the mean time go call your mother. She must be anxious to see you."

"Alright, I'll tell her you said hello." I got out my laptop and opened up Skype. While it was signing in I put away my coat and hat and then straitened up my hair. I never really got it all settled how she wanted it but I knew how orderly it needed to be to avoid her complaining at me.

"You forgot to turn your camera on."

"Oh, sorry about that," it was a quick fix, "So where are you right now?"

"I'm laying over in Greenland. It's so quiet here it might as well be your room," I laughed and she held something up. "I got you something though," she held up a keychain in the shape of Greenland with a star where the airport was.

"You know I forgot you were sending me things from all these places."

"A mother never forgets her baby, Ratonhnhaké:ton."

"How long until you stop calling me that?" It never bothered me in private but I still poked fun at her for continuing to say that.

"No matter how much he protests being called a baby, a mother never sees him as anything else, so you'll have to deal with it." She laughed while she said those kinds of things. It must have been some deep-seated parent thing to keep your kids little in your mind. It was comforting to know she never really forgot about me no matter what she was doing. Neither of us would let things like that change, we were a tag-team after all. I was protective and she was intimidating, she would teach and I would learn, and if I fell she would catch me.

"I met father today."

"Hmm… was that a good thing or bad thing?"

"He was alright, the only awkward thing was… never mind," I was **not** going to tell her about Shay, "I mean he was a good guy but he was stiff and he did just learn I existed a few days ago."

"I imagine he tried and failed at saying your name?"

"I didn't tell him actually. By the way, did you not tell him I was his son?"

She sighed, "I didn't want him to know off the bat. If he knew you were his son before you moved in he might have been mad that he didn't get to plan your college experience and pick out what you did or have a stronger influence on you years ago."

The space was silent for a few seconds. She was waiting to know what I thought. "Well, I'd be a little upset too if I suddenly had a kid that nobody mentioned but I think I would still want to see him and not change who he was. Even if it was just for a while, I think we could make it work."

Mother's expression changed a bit where she wasn't smiling as much anymore but didn't have a frown. "You're always trying to find the good in people." She looked a little more satisfied with that statement, "I don't know where you got it from but I'm thankful for it."

"Well, I only had one parent so I guess it's from you" I shrugged and she laughed.

"Hey, I have to get ready to board again but I'll contact you when I land. Don't go making trouble now."

"I won't mom." That was a lie, I somehow always caused trouble.

"Mom? That's new for you. Anyways, good bye Ratonhnhaké:ton"

"Good bye." The call ended and now the room was silent again. I let it sink in that I was going to be separated from the two people who knew me the most and the home that I called a sanctuary. I didn't have much guaranteed time here but I wasn't going to be cut off from everything. I didn't know what this feeling was but I wanted to go through every inch of the woods I used to play in. I put my coat back on and opened the door to the balcony. The rain had stopped and the sun was setting. When I noticed Achille's office window was open I shouted "I'll be back before dawn!" and took off while he shouted something about disrespect and manners at me. So maybe I was already causing trouble but I think it was excusable. Besides, it might be a year until I'd annoy the old man again.

* * *

Shay and Connor? Don't know if it ships, but it's funny to watch and will likely show up again.


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, this is going to be a marathon chapter compared to the others but I felt like a lot of context was missing and I wanted to add just a touch of drama. Besides, everyone knows Kenways just attract drama.

* * *

The scent of the damp woods was intoxicating for me. I sprinted around the trails I used to run around and imagined all the times I ran here. I got faster and faster over the years so now I could run circles around my old self. The terrain made me focus on where I stepped and now I almost never lost my footing on any surface. I didn't even slip when I jumped from the mossy river rocks to the old trees. The wind blew against me as I raced through the branches, sometimes I felt like I could have lived off these types of nights forever. Eventually I reached the giant tree that stood on the edge of the property. It was big enough to hold a house and was old enough to have been a sapling in the Revolutionary War. I climbed up its limbs until I was poking my head over the canopy to see the town a few miles out from the house.

It looked beautiful covered in little lights but I couldn't get myself to believe it was as promising as it looked. I knew too much about its bad neighborhoods, would-be-gangs and thugs, and how hard sick my mother was when we lived in a terrible apartment. It was a one-bedroom place that creaked at every step and was the recently cleaned site of a double homicide. Mother would have moved anywhere else if the cost of her treatment wasn't more than she made in a year.

"Just one look at it. Then I can forget about it forever," I said, I was already close to the town so I might as well see if it had changed. Maybe it had been cleaned up and the trouble had cleared.

It hadn't.

I stood outside the rotten apartment and saw the windows were boarded up. Somehow it managed to get worse after we moved out but I guess I was the only one doing anything to keep it safe back then. Just for nostalgia I thought I would go on my old "patrol" again, I pulled my hood up as I walked around the neighborhood. There were still small general stores, (no big chain business would be dumb enough to put a store here) they likely sold to the people who couldn't afford to get out of here and the thugs that harassed anyone to make a profit.

I remembered within the first week of living there some huge guys knocked at our door and introduced themselves as the "law" of the slums. I don't know how she did it but mother managed to scare them off during the day, but it didn't stop them from trying to get us during the night. Those guys would never remember me but I would always remember how they made me scared for my mother's life. They would always be the faceless enemy that made me carry weapons into what should be safe places. Ironically, they made me the enemy they wanted to avoid. I started to deal with them myself. I got to be a pro at sneaking out because of the noisy floor, I found learned to box and wrestle, to shoot accurately, to stab viciously, and to never let my guard down. I want to call myself the good guy, but I know not everything I did could be forgiven. Well, Achilles forgave me but I doubt a lawyer father would. I was almost back to the apartment when I saw the worst mistake in history.

Some idiot brought their fancy Rolls-Royce Wraith to this dump and had the door open. I wanted to let the idiot get what was coming to him but my feet were already moving towards the man standing in front of it. He faced the building but even from the side it looked like he was wearing a nice black suit so I assumed he was the owner. But seriously, who on Earth would be cocky enough to even think about this?

I made sure to kick the broken bottles to signal I was walking closer and the man turned his head. "Oh, you again."

I couldn't see his face well since he was standing in front of the car's headlights but the Irish accent was unmistakable. "Shay? Are you kidding me? What are you doing out here?" Maybe he wasn't as perceptive as I thought he was. I didn't think anyone was this dumb but maybe he was an exception.

"Shay, I didn't find anything inside," a familiar voice said, sure enough my father walked out of the door that led into the apartment. He walked out and saw me immediately. "Connor? It's close to eleven, shouldn't you be at home?"

"I could ask you the same question."

Shay looked at my father and said, "Well, you've got no reason not to tell him."

Haytham was silent but didn't look concerned. "Never mind that, just get in the car and we'll take you back to Achilles."

"Look, I don't need an escort but apparently you two don't know anything about…" I was trying to talk but something was off, the usual city hum got quieter and voices in the distance were whispering back and forth. Shay and my father picked up on the voices too; they turned their heads to find the sound and motioned for me to come closer but I only made a step when I saw a glint of light around the corner of the building.

I reached into my coat and pulled out the gun, "COME OUT NOW!" Father and Shay looked at me in disbelief but I stepped past them toward the building. Then I heard someone running up behind us. A woman with a pipe hit Shay hard across the back. I whipped around and shot her in the leg, it was only a bit deeper than a grazing shot but still she writhed around and cursed with everything she had. Two more people were coming out from around the corners. One was huge and burly while the other was holding a knife.

"Connor stay in the car," to my surprise Shay had recovered and lowered his stance. Haytham turned to the one with the knife while Shay and I were staring down the brute.

"Better do what your sugar daddy says pipsqueak," the big one laughed, he pulled out a baseball bat and charged at us. I was about to fire when Shay rushed forward, disarmed him, and punched him in the gut. His sent the big guy backwards a bit and took then gave him a quick knock to the head. He tossed the bat aside and continued to beat the man into submission. Looking behind me Haytham already the other guy in a headlock. He was either asking questions or intimidating him. I was a bit surprised when he knocked him out cold and propped the body against the wall. Shay had finished off the other one and came back to where we were.

"So, what do we do about that one," he gestured to the one I shot, "She's not losing much blood since Connor hit mostly flesh but she would be a witness."

I blurted out something I wish I could take back, "Actually those kinds of things are common around here. I ran into a lot of these situations before so it wouldn't be my first time having this happen." My father just face palmed.

"Did you really have to say that in front of Shay and I?" Perhaps saying that in front of two people who needed to represent law and fairness wasn't the right move.

"Don't worry, I'll handle her, you just need to, uhm, look away I guess." He rolled his eyes and faced the other direction. I told Shay, "Get in the car and rev the engine when I say drive, don't actually go forward though." He gave me a concerned look and said he hoped I knew what I was doing. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I had to intimidate a lot of people in the past.

Third person POV

Connor bent down to the woman's level, "No! Get away from me!"

"Quiet" he growled. He took both wrists behind her back in one hand and held her neck in the other. "Now, you won't go saying a word of this to anyone, got it?"

"Fuck you, you shot me! I have rights and- ow, wait what are you doing!" the woman squirmed when she felt herself being pushed onto the pavement. Connor gripped the back of her neck to force her to look at the car's tire right in front of her.

"If you don't want to play along, then you can have it your way. Shay! Drive!" The engine roared on and the woman screamed.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay quiet," she began to cry as she started to fear for her life, "But what about the others? A-are they d-dea-"

"Don't worry about them. They'll be thankful enough that they didn't get put in the hospital," Connor pushed her face across the road and closer to the tire, "Besides, do you want to admit you tried to beat the three of us and take our car?"

"We didn't mean-

"Drive!"

The engine roared again and Connor shoved her face forward for effect. "Okay!" she was gasping between words as she said, "W-we did tr-ry to do that, I adm-mit it, just please, please let me go…" her sobbing got louder and Connor let go as she cried into the pavement.

Connor leaned down to whisper, "Good, now leave." That was all it took to send her quickly moving down the street, as much as her leg would allow anyway. Connor looked back at Haytham, "We should get going too," his voice was back to the quiet tone it usually had. Connor got into the back as Haytham joined Shay in the front. They took off immediately and were reaching a red light when Haytham signaled to go a different direction.

"You're not going the right way," Connor said.

"I know, but you have to answer for some things," Haytham didn't raise his voice but both people in the car knew he was serious. "For starters, how often did you encounter something like that?"

Connor sighed. It had been a long time since he counted each time as a separate event. "I did a patrol around the neighborhood almost every night. I got in fights too often to count." Haytham signaled to keep driving around.

"Why? Were you an officer of the law?"

"No, but I was more effective than the police in the town. They usually keep to the good places and avoid calls from this area. Are you going to be asking a lot of questions?"

Sure enough the interrogation continued for almost an hour. The men learned that Connor and his mother moved there to be closer to the hospital since the reserve was almost thirty miles away. Ziio had almost been crushed under a burning building at the time and after going to the ER and being hospitalized for a few months they found she was in need of tons of surgeries and rehab to repair the damage to the spine. It drained most of the money she made and Connor had not only defended the house from everyone but also started to, in his words, "become a Robin Hood type person." (Haytham didn't want to know exactly what he did but he could guess robbery was on the growing list of Connor's shady activities.) At some point this lead to him trying to rob Achilles himself but he was caught in the act. Instead of reporting him immediately he asked what he was doing it for. Soon after that Achilles started to teach him how to fight better and helped pay for Ziio's treatment by teaching Connor how to run Davenport Shipping. Soon they had done enough for he and his mother to move out of that place. Connor had been uninvolved in the area ever since then.

"You know, I though trouble always seemed to find me but you, Connor, you seem to just have been surrounded by it," Shay said, it was as close to saying 'your life sucked' as he thought he could get. He turned the car onto the right path to get back to Achilles manor while the others sat in silence.

Haytham now had most the answers he was looking for and a ton of knowledge on things he wish hadn't had happened. All those terrible days and he was nowhere to help. Had he known about it he could have paid for Ziio's medical bills, he could have kept them with him and out of the neighborhood where his son would get beaten and threatened, he could have done more than accepted Ziio's rejection.

"Father?" His son's voice brought him back to attention. "Please don't feel bad about it. It's all in the past now, everyone's okay," the boy smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you would have done anything if mother just asked you." He was a kind one, Haytham could see why Achilles and Ziio were unwilling to let him go.

"Thank you," Haytham smiled. It had been a long time since anyone made him genuinely happy.

"Is this an awkward time to remind you I'm still here?" Damn it Shay, Haytham thought. Connor just chuckled. They soon got to the manor where they saw the porch light was on for its irresponsible resident.

Haytham stretched and said, "Shay, would you walk Connor up to the door? I feel like driving home as well so I'll be switching seats." Shay agreed, although he thought the boy could walk himself the twenty or so feet from the curb to the door. However, he did

"Hey Connor, I have one question of my own."

"What is it?"

"When you were trying to show me what was in your jacket, that was the gun right?" Connor stared at him incredulously.

"Of course," Shay sighed in relief, "what else would I carry?" They got to the porch where Shay was about to say goodbye but stopped when Connor held his hand.

"You alright boy?" Shay felt Connor's other hand around his neck right under the hairline. "Connor?" He pulled Shay closer until he was sure it was even closer than they had been in the office. Shay noticed that nothing in his expression was the man that fought crime in the streets or ran a company with skill beyond his years; instead it was a young man that was reckless and scared. Since finding out he was Haytham's son he knew why Connor was familiar but now he could see the differences were just as striking. His skin hid his fawn like freckles unless you were this close, he wore no cologne but smelled inviting, and everything about him was warm. Even his eyes were hypnotic and he thought he would melt into them if he looked too long. "Con-"

"Shh…, Shay, will you answer me one question?"

He sighed, "yes."

Connor returned to his normal voice and position. "So all you have to do is look at someone and relax?"

"What?" Shay got pulled out of the moment instantly. Only now did he realize his pulse was faster than normal and that the kid was messing with him.

"Honestly I thought there was some cool mind trick to it but now it's boring," he started to pout about it as he unlocked the front door. "By the way, someone looks really unhappy with you." He pointed as Haytham closed the distance between himself and Shay.

"I advise we go now, make sure not to fool around with my son like that again." He dragged him away while Shay tried to explain the situation and how Connor started it but none of the words seemed to get through. Connor himself felt a little bad for knowing that his father would be watching but now he felt like things were even.

Nobody embarrasses him in front of his mentor and gets away with it.

* * *

Poor Shay, he might win some day but that isn't today.

Thanks again for reading so far :)


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later, most of that night felt like a distant memory. I was lying in my bed around six in the morning when the early light crawled through the blinds and onto my eyelids to wake me up. Surprisingly the sun wasn't hiding behind the clouds, and checked my phone for any messages or e-mails. Whenever my coworkers or interns couldn't figure something out on their own or if they let a meeting with a client go awry they would beg for help but thankfully nobody needed my attention this morning. It was a good start to my day. As I got ready I noticed that my suit hadn't been damaged at all and felt grateful to avoid having to shop for another one. I got dressed, found my coat, and went down to the local café for breakfast.

There were already a few people in the store. Some looked like they hadn't gone home for the night at all while others were like me, early risers that were too lazy or too inept at cooking for themselves. I've actually been here so often that the men working at the counter remember me and we would talk to each other from time to time. The friendliest one was the co-founder who happened to be on his way out as I walked up.

He came to a full halt and then smiled with open arms, " _Buongiorno_! Good morning, Shay! You look well, how have you been?"

"I've been alright Mario," I returned the friendly gesture with a hug. I knew him long enough to know it was easier to just go with it rather than to have an awkward moment every time I saw him. The man was friendly and shared quite a bit of himself with me. I learned a while ago that Mario and his sister-in-law were running a couple cafés and a restaurant in downtown New York. His niece and youngest nephew were still in school but took pride in their family restaurant. His older nephews would help when they weren't working at the bank with their father but they were often distracted by girls and parties.

Mario dictated my usual morning order to the cooks and we took two seats near the window. I was wondering what to say when he said, "I heard you got yourself into some trouble with the boss."

"Why would you guess that?"

"He came in with a messy hood kid yesterday and complained about you. Something about perking the boy's curiosity if I remember right." I was not in the mood to touch this subject again.

"I'll explain it to you later, friend. By the way, your middle nephew is going to that elite professional trade school soon, isn't he?" If Mario loved anything, it was talking about his family.

"Ah! You know too, yes, the boy's growing up so he'll have to go soon. He's actually starting classes next Monday. He's going into financing to be able to help out the family business. Now if you ask me, it's his older brother that should be helping the family but that one's set on following his father. While I think it's honorable that he's trying, Lord knows that man needs help to change his boys into men."

"Don't be too concerned with that, some men never got the chance to be boys."

This made Mario pause for a second. He tilted his head when he looked at me, "Are you speaking from experience?"

It was my turn to pause. I could tell him but it wasn't my place to give all the details of another man's life. "Not personal experience, but I've seen it pretty recently." I hadn't thought much of Connor since then but considering what happened to him I doubted he had too great of a childhood if any. A waiter came by with my food and I took a long sip of my coffee to give myself time to find something to say.

"Mario, did either of your nephews go through a really rough time?"

Mario leaned back in his seat. "Hmm… Federico never liked to talk about his weakest moments but I was there a year ago when Ezio was worried to death about a court case with his father and Federico. I believe it was your boss, Haytham? Yeah, it was him that defended them in court and got them out of that situation. Anyway, while all that was going on, Ezio was less than a mask wearing a man."

"What do you mean?" English wasn't his first language so sometimes his metaphors could get confusing.

"I mean the boy lost himself in who he was trying to be. He put on a show of being a confident man to his mother and family when he really needed to just let them know he was hurting. His sister called it pride but I think it was his way of trying to show he loved them."

"You must see more than I do, I'd call it pride as well."

He sighed, he must have been hoping I would know this type of thing. "Have you ever seen someone pretend to be more than what they are?" His usual mirth had faded. "They act like they're on top of the world while it crumbles around them. Ezio loved his mother, sister, and baby brother enough to think that if he could act strong then they would feel less burdened. _Buone intenzioni sciocco_. Eventually part of the act became his actual persona. He challenged everybody who said he couldn't do something and sometimes got way in over his head." The corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to say more. After years of reading people I knew there was a painful memory attached to what he wanted to say.

In the silence I took a long drink and turned my gaze out the window to avoid seeing him with that expression. "Don't feel bad about talking about it," I heard him shift in his seat to look at me. Thoughtlessly I added, "Besides, that might help me understand why Connor's that way." The words seemed to comfort him enough to restore him to how he was. In my head I realized how true that line was.

It explained why Connor was a confusing, arrogant, pain in the ass around others. He thought he was being the self-assured grown-up the situation needed. He had more experience than most people his age, certainly darker experiences than Mario's nephews, but he was still that child that was threatened at the door of his apartment. He never stopped trying to defend his mother, I don't think he ever will, and no doubt he looked at Achilles as another person he needed to look out for.

"Who's Connor?"

Damn. I used his name without even thinking about it. Oh well, sharing that bit of knowledge wasn't going to affect me too badly. "He's Haytham's son. The boy you probably saw yesterday." I hoped he didn't ask more questions.

"Ah, so that's why he showed up with the young man. You know, he a lot like his _padre_ but also the complete opposite of him too. Did you know he's got another name?"

I turned back to face him now that he sounded back to normal. "What is it?"

"Something long and hard. I couldn't tell you if I tried but I can imagine people must fumble with it a lot."

"Well, that's unfortunate, I might try if he'd let me," I'd have to meet him again but that might not be for a while since we had finished all the work for Davenport.

"Shay, I don't suppose you care for the young man?" I'm starting to feel insulted by how many people thought that.

"What makes you think that?" Mario smirked at me. He always did that when he thought I didn't know something.

"You had a, how can I say this, a certain look," I raised a brow, "You know, that look someone gets when they think of their crush." We sat there in silence for a good fifteen seconds after I buried my face in my hand and moaned about how stupid this set up was. "There's no shame in liking another fellow, I was just saying I noti-" Mario stopped when I raised my hand to signal him.

"The only reason, the ONLY, reason I would care about that man, is because he's annoyed me too much to get him out of my head." Mario just made a face like he was dealing with a child but didn't bring it up again. We finished our chat on some things like how I was doing at work and I left after paying. I got around to the corner, got another cab to get to work, and wondered why Mario and Achilles said what they did about me caring for Connor. Nothing else was as irritating as that but since I could avoid the boy I shouldn't be bothered. It didn't matter if I hypothetically did anyways, he was many years my junior and my boss's son. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't… couldn't… Couldn't what? Tell him he confused me? Take him out? Perhaps my subconscious was falling for everyone's words. I shook my head to dismiss the very thoughts.

After getting to the building and about an hour of working I heard someone coming up to my office. Charles knocked on the door and let himself in. "Do you know where Mr. Kenway is?" It was rude of him to not even say hello but I'll let it slide this time.

"Probably spending time with his new found son," I said. I didn't see why Charles was concerned, Haytham was in a position where he could have the luxury of working wherever he pleased so long as he could e-mail or fax things to someone here. The only thing he couldn't do was meet with a client. "Do you want to call him and interrupt his father-son-bonding? I'll even dial the number if it would make you happy."

He sneered at me for a moment and then retreated back into the hallway. While I didn't hate the man, he was very different from when I first met him. He showed mild disdain for anyone he thought below him but was always pleasant towards Haytham and any superiors. Nowadays he would full on shout at the younger employees and squabble with most anyone. He wouldn't quite muster up enough to confront Haytham but occasionally he looked like he was close. I definitely kept my guard up with him.

The day passed without excitement and the next day as well. I began to wonder if Haytham had just quit showing up since he wasn't present at all. No calls, texts, or emails came in either. The only way I knew he was still with us was on the third day when he sent a text asking to know where some old criminal case information had gone and to leave them on his desk. I got Charles on the task to find it and send it to him while I worked on something else.

The day was going by slowly until Charles rushed into my office and locked the door behind him. He was breathing heavy like he ran up the stairs. "This is important Cormac," he said in a hushed voice, "I have reason to believe Mr. Kenway's own son is a violent criminal. More importantly I believe he could be plotting against him." Well that got my attention. The idea of this boy plotting against his father was unlikely, I knew he had the skills to do something but there couldn't have been any motive to do anything to Haytham.

However, after seeing what happened in the other town it was clear that he had done some terrible things in the past. From what Connor told us that night, the only crime he couldn't claim self-defense for was robbing Achilles. I didn't want to believe Connor could be a threat to anyone at this point but Charles was convinced he was. Even if it wasn't true, if he found enough incidents then he could string together a believable story regardless. As bad as it was, everyone is quick to buy the story of a bad kid who just couldn't be saved.

"What evidence do you have?" If I could contact Haytham before Charles then I could ask to speak with Connor on my own terms.

He started to move around my office quickly. He checked the doorframe and looked out the windows to the hallway. When he could assure himself nothing was there he lowered the blinds and looked at me, "When you told me that Mr. Kenway was looking for that old file I went looking everywhere for it. When I came across it I noticed that it had a copy of all arrested and wanted persons from Ashvein," it was the name of the town Connor and his mother lived in, "In that pile was a wanted poster without a picture but had described a man of Native American decent, around age six or seventeen, and fitting the physical description of that boy. If Connor is that man, he's wanted for the death of two officers and beating a store clerk senseless."

I felt the worry build up in me. Reason would say that we found a wanted man but only someone who knew him would recognize that it didn't make sense. Connor fit the physical description but he didn't have the mentality to do those things. "Alright, you have one document to tell me what he looks like, however, you haven't given me enough to believe he's the man responsible for the crime. Not to mention you haven't explained your first point on how he's a threat to Haytham."

He gave a grim grin and the look made me uncomfortable to the core. "Well it seem's I'll be the favorite for saving his life then. Unlike you, I was fastidiously checking our workers and caught sight of him being suspicious. That boy of his was downstairs just a few minutes ago, he was on the phone with someone when I caught him talking about the old battle between you, Mr. Kenway, and Achilles Davenport. He must be oblivious to his surroundings since I followed and saw him enter into Mr. Kenway's office where he smuggled those criminal documents out."

"Look, Connor must have been picking them up for his dad, there's no way that-"

"But he had a gun and lock-picked his way in!" Now things were difficult to out rule, "The brat picked his way in, took out a gun, and slipped the papers into his jacket, check if people were there, and then he took his weapon back. Now, wouldn't he have just walked in and out with ease if his father had just sent him to retrieve papers? Don't you think the bastard would have at least ask to be let in? I think that if Haytham had asked for the papers to be moved to his desk he was aware of what happened in that place. His son must have overheard it and was trying to intercept the information. Being troubled by this he took the gun with him incase anyone got in his way." I wanted to say the weapon was just out of habit but that would just open floodgates of questions, it could potentially give Charles more ammunition to argue against him. He put his hands down on the desk and said, "If Mr. Kenway is set on learning about the brat's past he won't quit. Then how long until Connor gets scared and desperate to stop him?"

"Charles, if this is as serious as you're treating it, I want you to stay here," He made a move to argue but I stopped him, I had to think quickly, "I'll go check on Haytham and see if the Connor's done anything. If he's in danger I'm going to bring him here and find his son after that. You will not do anything to embarrass us until then." I gathered my coat, took the key to a company car and dialed Haytham's number as I started to drive towards his house.

I didn't want Charles to reach him and exaggerate things before I could figure things out. Connor has no monetary need to take out his father, Haytham could defend his son's vigilante actions, but he if was responsible for the deaths and injuries reported and proved Lee's idea right, Charles could take him down one way or another. Any legal matter Charles got involved with usually had slanderous or financially crippling effects; if he chose to go at it with Connor, he would keep going until there wasn't any resource left to help him.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry about the long time between this one and the last chapter, college started up again and now I have less time on my hands.

I'll still be writing but it's going to be slower than when I started.

Anyways, thanks for waiting and reading so far! :D On with the story!

* * *

"Hello?" Connor had picked up the phone instead.

"Connor? This is important, where is Haytham?"

"In the study looking over that files I picked up. Why do you ask?" I gave an audible sigh in relief; he didn't keep the papers away from Haytham so part of Charles's theory was already shaky.

"Shay? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I think you've given Charles Lee a bad impression. I need to talk some things over with you and your father but for now just wait till I get to the house. Oh, and tell your father to not speak to anyone until I get there."

"Whatever you say, see you in a few minutes."

"See you then."

I was relieved to hear him being calm on the other end. If he had given all of the papers to Haytham then we could see if Connor was responsible for that incident. When I pulled the car up to the building's resident lot a valet recognized the car as Haytham's, (he drove it quite frequently when he didn't want to use his own) and didn't question as I took the most direct route through the code locked door to the top room. I knew my way around the building well enough and before long I was at the door of the Kenway residence. I rang the doorbell and knocked hard, inside there was some muffled response and footsteps.

A few seconds later Haytham opened the door to welcome me in. We got so far as the seating area across from the mantle when he asked what was going so important that I needed to see him before anyone else did. I should have prepared what to say before coming in.

"Before I tell you anything, do you recall sending Connor to retrieve the file you asked for?" It seemed safe to talk about, as I couldn't see anything showing Connor was in the room.

"Yes, I told him to pick it up on his way home after registering at the college. Was it not apparent?"

"If you wanted it to be apparent you should have given your son the key to unlock the office. Lock picking isn't quite an admired profession." He didn't look concerned about it at all, if anything he seemed bored and annoyed.

"Well it's his fault for leaving the house early this morning and not waiting for me to give him the key. Is this all that you wanted to say?"

"No, I came here because Connor got the attention of Charles while he was there," Haytham leaned back into his thinking position while keeping his gaze on me, "Before he left the papers in your office he says he saw a flier asking for a man from Ashvein. He says that Connor must be the man described but I didn't believe him. I thought you should also know that he thinks you son was responsible for, ah…" how could I say this delicately, "an assault and a double homicide."

"I'm aware of that."

"… What?"

I knew he was hard to surprise but he didn't even flinch. Maybe he would at least frown but he looked just fine with the news. "Are you telling me you already know about everything? Did Charles say anything?"

He stood up and began to pace the room as he said, "Connor's the one who brought it up actually. Yesterday we had a discussion on the details of his life before meeting me. I learned a lot of things about him and he wanted to let me know that because of his "patrols" he found himself in the crossfire often. That flier happened to be the only recorded piece of evidence of what he did."

"Ah," it was good to know Connor wasn't hiding it, "So you're going to tell Charles that he's the wrong man, right?" A moment went by without any sound.

"I can't," Haytham's expression got darker, "Connor still feels guilty."

"But he didn't do anything, why would he feel guilty?" My voice was still strong but I heard the concern coming through.

Haytham turned to me, "By Connor's account he was there the night it happened. I still need to go over all the police evidence of the scene before I can deal with Charles or the situation might go from an inquiry to a mislead trial," he walked back to me and took a seat. "Shay, I have to find every piece of evidence linking him to that incident. However, someone needs to talk to him at this moment as well. He never even hit those people but he feels responsible for the whole thing. He wouldn't tell me why but he might tell you."

"What makes you think he'll say more to me than you?"

Quietly he said, "Because you both know how it feels to be responsible for the outcomes of another's life."

The corner of my lips twisted. He referenced the fall out with Achilles, a topic most people dared not to mention near me. I hated it when anyone brought up it up; it hit me too close to the memory of all the people I lost trying to do what I thought was right. It tore at the places in my heart where Hope and Liam used to be. Usually, I flew into a rage, but to think that Connor would be going through the same emotions made me feel… odd. It was both sympathetic and saddening. Perhaps I was concerned enough to call it caring.

"Alright then, where's he now?"

"He should be in his room," Haytham directed me to go up the stairs, (I forgot how huge is his penthouse "apartment" was) all the way down the second hallway, and his door was the one on the left.

I wasn't so eager to talk to him as I was before. As I got closer to the door I heard him talking to someone. "Yeah… No, I told him… I know." He must have been in the middle of a phone call. I might as well wait for it to finish so I turned around and paced along the adjacent wall. There was no way to not hear Connor. "I know it's dangerous but… I can't just run from my father, I just started to get to know him… Achilles, I have to end this, I can't go on knowing I did it." There was a pause and I could hear Connor running his nails against the wall in his room. There were soft sounds of half-hearted agreements to what I assume was Achilles trying to comfort him.

"Achilles, those men are dead _because_ I tried to do the right thing." My pulse started to pick up speed and he continued, "I shouldn't have tried to do that. I should have let things be." I wanted to make him stop blaming himself that way. "I know you'd let me go on without doing a thing but" He went silent and a stifled voice came though. "I- I can't… I can't forget them. It's been eating away at me since I told him about it…"

Something urgent was creeping into me, I wanted to open the door and stop him from saying this. He reminded me too much of myself when I was at my lowest. I didn't want him to end up there and I didn't want him to think he was alone in this feeling. I should have used my head and thought of what to say but instead I knocked. From the other side I could hear a rushed goodbye and the call ending.

"Connor?" I took a deep breath, "I need you."

At first there was nothing, then footsteps followed and the door quickly swung back. Sure enough Connor was standing there looking at me with confusion. "Do you have any idea how weird that sounds?"

I gave a short laugh, more at myself than anything, and noticed the whites of his eyes were recovering from being tinted red. He was talking in his usual tone so playing off the situation might be best for now. "Whatever, do you want to come talk with me or what?" I'd bet that he'd feel better talking about it away from the room where he locked himself up.

"What do you need to talk about? And where would we go?"

I opened my arms in a grand and silly gesture "Anywhere we please, I took the company car and there's no need for us to limit ourselves, besides, Haytham said you were alone in your room too long."

"Why would that be a problem?" He crossed his arms and waited for an answer. I had to say something to get a better response than another question so I remembered something Liam once told me.

"You have to come out with me, people have to start living out in the world some more you know. Plus," I had to look him in the eyes for this one, "you don't want your dad to think you've just been jerking off up here, do you?" Connor turned bright red, I don't think he ever expected someone to say that to him. He was flustered and muttered something in another language but he came around to it.

"Fine, I'll go. Just let me get my coat and shoes," he said as he went back into the room, "you're free to come in." I followed him in and started to look around while he searched for his things. He had few items in his room. By the looks of it, all his items were able to fit into two boxes which now stood open and empty. A laptop and some papers from school were the only things on his desk. There were only two other notable things. The first was a photo of him and his mother stood on the bedside. Ziio had her full dazzling smile and was holding a much smaller Connor, who was smiling ear to ear to show off a missing tooth. Next to it there was a picture of them with Achilles aboard some ship with Connor at the wheel.

"Do you know how to sail?" Connor was putting on his shoes when I asked. He nodded.

"I learned just a few years ago from a friend of Achilles's," he said as he straitened up his jacket,"Mr. Faulkner's a nice man when you get to know his humor." I wondered for a second if the old _Aquila_ was really still seaworthy but I didn't want to bring him down.

"Oh, wait. Connor, I almost forgot to tell you something," he looked at me and tilted his head like a pup, "take the gun out of your jacket." he shot me a concerned look but I stepped up to close the distance between us, "I need to get you to stop whipping it out okay?" I put my hands on the open sides of his coat, "If anything comes up I know we can do it safely if it's the two of us. I'll keep you safe Connor, you have my word." He looked like he wanted to make me reconsider but he sighed instead.

"Fine, but I'm not going to be the fool to remove it," he was stubborn like both his parents for sure. I slipped my hands around to feel where it was and when I found it I pulled the side of his jacket open to reach it. I grabbed his gun and was mildly surprised of how much it weighed in my hand as I pulled it out. Connor saw my surprise and said, "It's weighted more to reduce recoil. The people at the homestead helped me with it." He must have had some interesting friends.

"So now can I assume you're unarmed?" Connor tried to nod but he was starting to smirk. I sighed, he sure had security issues, "Alright boy, what else do you have?" He didn't say anything but he pulled out a pocketknife and a baton. "Is that it?"

"Well, I think it should be…" what a terrible liar Ziio made. How could he manage to get away with anything? I could understand how he didn't want to be unarmed but if anyone asked for the truth he would blurt out he was always carrying weapons in public.

I dropped my shoulders and made a face at him, "Don't make me strip you Connor." For a brief second he looked unsure of whether I would do it or not. "Connor…" I tried my best to scowl but the look in his eyes almost made me laugh. It was like talking to a bad puppy and the tiniest bit of a smile started to form. "I won't ask again," I leaned in close and slid a hand under his coat.

He jumped immediately. "Okay! I get it!" He slowly took off his coat while I watched. I admit I couldn't stop the smirk on my face, I mean that had worked perfectly and to see him blushed and nervous was perfect payback for what he did.

Laying the jacket across the bed I saw the whole thing was lined with pockets and placeholders. Only a few of them were occupied by anything but it was an ordeal to get him to take each and every knife, brass knuckle, and firecracker out. "That's everything," he pouted. I felt sorry for everyone who ever had to take care of this mess.

"Alright then, let's get going." We left his room and noticed that Haytham returned to his office. Connor left a note on the door and we began going back to the car. Before we got there he asked about where I was taking him. I hadn't thought about it but as we got into the car I remembered the photos by the bed and I smiled at the thought of where I was taking him. I had been meaning to check up on my old girl but haven't had a good reason to leave the city till now. "It's a surprise," I said happily, "and I think you'll like her."


	7. Chapter 7

The time between this chapter and the last has been ridiculously long but school has been hectic. Updates are going to get pretty slow until further notice but another chapter should be up relatively soon. (this one is mostly drabble)

Thanks to everyone for waiting and reading :)

On with the story!

* * *

We had been driving around for a while but something felt off. I thought that he had something serious to talk about but he acted like nothing was wrong. I guessed it was Shay's way of delaying. "You still haven't told me what you wanted to talk about."

"We can talk about it later," he was avoiding it, "However, it's been a while since I've seen you. I think you should tell me what you've been up to lately." I narrowed my eyes out of habit. Normally I thought it was pointless to talk about myself but with having to explain every aspect of my life to my father I was getting used to this.

"I started going to school again."

"Ah, is it one of the public or private high schools?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just curious. I went to public school and it was okay but I think your dad would send you to private school."

It was weird that he thought I was that young. Normally I was mistaken for being older than I was. "You don't understand. I got my GED when I dropped out a few years ago. I meant I'm going to college." He glanced at me incredulously.

"Hold on boy," he said as he pulled into a parking lot, "Why in the world did you drop out of school to get your GED instead of just finishing up? It's a respectable option and I've known a few people who did it but I don't see why you would." He turned off the engine and waited for my response.

I've had this conversation with my father already but explaining it again wouldn't kill me, "I was too busy with work. I spent more time rebuilding Davenport Shipping than paying attention to classes. I started making changes from the old practices and contacting clients and finding workers. Don't get me wrong, Achilles still handled most of the paperwork but I had to do more than what I could if I stayed in school."

He his shoulders dropped slightly. "It's nice that you were so dedicated but why was that more important than your future?"

I looked away from him. It was uncomfortable to bring up but I managed to ask, "Do you remember that place we lived in?" He nodded and I continued, "I took up… a lot of things. Working with Achilles was one of them. After he helped with moving out I realized I had a full time job and was paying close to half the medical bills. We needed the money to stay in the new house and I wasn't going to let anything send us back to the place we were." Something in my voice didn't sound right but I didn't think I was giving away any emotions. "I know I was the child and I should have let others take care of it but being passive wasn't an option. I would have done anything to make sure my mother was alright."

There was a long pause after that.

I don't know what I expected to see but him smiling at me wasn't it. "Thank goodness, I thought you got someone knocked up or had a cartel situation gone wrong." That made me immediately regret saying anything. He laughed a little at my expense but quickly stopped. Then he put an arm around my shoulders and lowered his voice, "You're always going to be your mother's watch dog and that's good. It shows how much you'd do for the ones you love." He looked down like he was confused on what to say next. Then he looked back at me with warmth in his eyes, "Just don't ever let anyone say your good intentions were mistakes."

I wish I could have told him how that was wrong. I wanted to tell him not all the mistakes I made could be justified because I meant to do well. I wanted to tell him what I told my father but I bit my lip and the words withered with my courage.

He let his hand linger on me for a moment longer and asked, "By the way, did you almost break Paul's hand for touching you?" And with that he made me smile.

Shay was confusing. He changed the mood so quickly I couldn't understand what his intentions were. I had no idea what he wanted to say or where I was but it didn't feel like a big deal. He never talked about himself but I've told him a lot about me. Not a moment of our time together has made sense but something about the look in his eyes makes me trust him.

"Look, Paul was irritating from the beginning. I wasn't going to deal with him touching me. "

"Do you not like anyone touching you?"

"No, some people are okay." Normally I would say it's unwelcome but he's had his arm around me for a while now. "Like mom and Achilles. Sometimes I got pats on the back from the neighbors or a couple friends." It didn't make sense that these were only people that were close to me and somehow Shay was able to do the same.

"And is this okay?" he moved his hand around my shoulder. Now that he called attention to how I should be acting I noticed how odd it was. I should have tensed up but I didn't. Instead it made my heart beat faster.

"It doesn't bother me," I said as I ran my hand through my hair, pushing back the sections that hung around my face. I wanted to know why it didn't bother me but nothing reasonable came up. I couldn't be thinking he was special, could I?

At first I was thankful that he pulled his arm back but then he put his hand on my head. He started pushing it the way I did. His eyes flicked around my face as he said, "Huh, you look more grown up with your hair back." Then he locked eyes with me and I felt my cheeks get warm, "I like it." I felt somewhere between embarrassed and overwhelmed. It felt good but somehow unpleasant. It felt like something unresolved but I just broke away from looking at him and bit my lip. My heart pounded as I started to put together why he was different.

"Connor, can we step out of the car? It's getting foggy and hot in here." We had been in here so long that all the windows were opaque. I nodded. I didn't know how to processes what I was thinking but thankfully the moment passed as the cold Autumn air greeted me.


End file.
